No.  137. 


Roman  s Union  fiissinnarij  jSoridtj. 

OUR  GIRLS. 

By  Jennie  L.  Mudge. 


FAMINE  CHILDREN  IN  MARY  AVERY  MERRIMAN  SCHOOL,  CAWNPORE,  INDIA 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/ourgirlsOOmudg 


OUR  GIRLS. 


By  Jennie  L.  Mudge. 


IN  our  Mary  Avery  Merriman  Orphanage  at  Cawnpore  there 
are  200  girls.  A dreadful  famine  raged  in  a large  part  of 
India,  and  hundreds  of  children  are  given  away  by  their 
parents,  in  order  that  they  may  be  saved  from  starvation — and 
hundreds  more  are  found  whose  parents  have  already  died  from 
lack  of  food.  These  children  are  sent  to  the  different  Orphan- 
ages scattered  over  the  land,  where  they  can  be  taken  and  cared 
for,  and  over  seventy  have  been  sent  to  us.  Almost  all  of  our 
girls  have  been  famine  children — -and  if  you  could  have  seen 
them  when  they  came  to  us,  and  then  see  them  now,  you  would 
scarcely  believe  them  to  be  the  same  orphans.  Many  of  the  wee 
ones  have  had  to  be  very  carefully  tended  and  fed  on  Mellen’s 
food  and  milk,  besides  being  rubbed  with  oil  to  keep  the  life 
in  their  little  bodies.  Our  oldest  girls  are  seventeen  or  eigh- 
teen, and  then  there  are  about  a dozen  little  ones,  three  and 
five  years  old.  Many  of  those  children  appear  younger  than 
they  are,  because  their  bodies  have  been  stunted  owing  to  their 
lack  of  nourishment. 


4 


Their  Home  is  a large  two-storied  house,  with  many  win- 
dows, so  that  they  have  an  abundance  of  fresh  air.  Upstairs  is 
the  dormitory  of  the  older  girls,  while  the  younger  ones  sleep 
in  a room  below,  near  the  matron.  The  whole  front  of  the 
building  downstairs  is  used  as  a school  room,  and  a dining 
room  when  it  is  too  hot  or  too  cold  or  too  rainy  to  eat  outside. 
The  bed  rooms  are  not  just  like  yours,  for  upstairs  there  are  no 
beds  at  all,  only  a comfortable  spread  on  the  floor  for  each  girl, 
with  her  blanket  as  a cover  in  the  cold  weather. 

The  younger  ones  have  low  bedsteads,  with  a cotton  rug  or 
a mattress  made  of  grass,  with  a sheet  besides  the  blanket  to 
roll  themselves  in.  But  I feel  quite  sure  they  sleep  just  as 
soundly  as  you  do,  on  your  spring  beds,  with  more  comfortable 
bedding. 

Every  day  but  Saturday,  for  five  hours,  all  but  the  youngest 
are  in  school,  and  learn  to  read  and  write  in  Hindi,  Urdu,  and 
Roman  Urdu.  They  learn  to  sew.  and  have  a class  in  singing 
I am  sure  you  would  enjoy  hearing  them  sing,  for  they  have 
good  voices  and  sing  with  vim!  In  the  summer  their  school 
begins  at  six  o’clock  in  the  morning,  so  you  see  they  must  rise 
early,  in  order  to  have  their  little  breakfast  before  they  go  into 
school.  Their  real  breakfast  comes  at  eleven,  or  immediately 
after  school,  and  their  other  meal,  about  five  or  six.  All  the 
natives  in  India  sleep  in  most  of  their  clothes,  so  it  does 
not  take  our  girls  as  long  to  dress  in  the  morning  as  it 
does  us. 


5 


The  people  in  India  are  very  particular  about  cleaning  their 
teeth  ; so  if  you  were  to  visit  the  Orphanage  some  early  morn- 
ing, you  might  see  a sight  which  would  surprise  you  ! You 
would  see  all  around  the  Compound,  girls  with  black  mouths 
and  lips  rubbing  away  at  their  teeth  with  their  fingers,  their 
only  tooth-brush.  This  black  substance  is  powdered  charcoal, 
which  makes  the  teeth  white  and  is  good  for  the  gums.  As  a 
rule,  our  girls  have  teeth  which  any  of  us  in  America  might 
envy. 

You  would  be  interested  in  being  present  at  one  of  their 
meals,  but  I think  perhaps  you  would  not  care  to  share  it  with 
them.  They  never  sit  at  a table,  but  on  the  floor,  or,  if  it  is 
out-of-doors,  on  the  clean-swept  ground.  They  are  arranged 
in  rows,  each  with  a white  enamel  plate  before  her,  her  only 
dish.  The  matron,  with  the  great  kettle  of  rice  and  one  of  a 
stew  made  of  meat  and  vegetables,  sits  in  front.  Two  of  the 
older  girls  bring  the  plates  to  be  filled,  while  two  others  carry 
around  the  great  basket  full  of  bread,  which  looks  like  large 
griddle  cakes,  and  give  each  one  or  two  cakes.  When  all  are 
helped,  at  a signal  from  the  matron,  they  rise  and  sing  grace, 
then  sit  down,  and,  tearing  in  pieces  the  bread  cake,  dip  up  the 
rice  and  stew.  They  manage  it  all  very  deftly,  the  fingers  not 
being  soiled  ! When  all  have  finished,  they  sing  their  thanks, 
and  each  girl  takes  her  plate  to  the  water  tap,  and  in  turn, 
washes  it!  This  makes  the  work  of  dish  washing  an  easy 
matter,  you  see. 


6 


At  Christmas  time,  just  before  our  two  weeks’  holiday,  we 
have  what  we  call  Distribution  Day , when  the  gifts  sent  out  from 
America  are  distributed.  Rewards  are  given  also  for  faithful- 
ness in  study  and  for  good  conduct  ; and  then  sweets  are  pro- 
vided for  them.  The  children  always  have  recitations  and 
singing,  which  are  much  enjoyed  by  the  friends  of  the  school, 
who  are  invited  to  share  the  good  time.  The  gifts  are  not 
expensive  ones,  but  doubtless  give  as  much  pleasure  as  your 
more  costly  ones  do  you.  Bags  made  of  pretty  cretonne  for 
their  books,  boxes  for  their  slate  and  lead  pencils,  small  mirrors, 
combs,  pieces  of  soap  and  washcloths  in  a little  bag,  sewing 
bags  with  thimbles  and  scissors,  or  pieces  of  some  serviceable 
print  for  a dress,  are  what  we  like  for  them.  Perhaps  you  will 
be  interested  to  make  some  of  these  things  for  our  Distribution 
Day  next  year,  and  so  have  a share  in  the  Christmas  in  India. 

Another  time  that  they  look  forward  to  is  the  picnic  we 
always  have  for  them.  Large  bullock  carts  are  engaged  for  the 
occasion,  and  the  girls  are  stowed  away  in  these  and  taken  three 
or  four  miles  to  a grove,  where  the  day  is  spent  in  playing 
games,  jumping  ropes,  walking  around  and  thoroughly  enjoying 
the  freedom  from  the  usual  life. 

You  would  be  interested  in  their  Christian  Endeavor  Soci- 
ety, which  meets  every  Wednesday  night.  You  would  perhaps 
be  surprised  to  see  how  readily  they  repeat  their  passages  of 
Scripture  or  lead  in  prayer.  Even  the  little  ones  are  always 
ready  to  take  part.  Some  of  our  girls  are  real  Christians,  and 


7 


show  by  their  lives  that  they  are  trying  to  live  for  Him  who  has 
called  them  out  of  the  great  heathen  darkness  which  is  all 
around  them,  into  the  light  of  the  life  they  now  live,  where 
they  hear  every  day  of  a Saviour  who  has  redeemed  them. 

Miss  Lillian  E.  Dietrich  writes  : Missionaries  are  realizing 

more  and  more  that  the  very  best  work  done  to-day  on  the 
mission  field  is  among  the  children.  Especially  is  this  true 
of  those  who,  at  an  early  age,  are  taken  from  their  idolatrous 
and  superstitious  homes  and  surrounded  by  Christian  influences 
and  teaching,  until  they  are  fully  established  in  the  faith.  It 
is  very  encouraging  to  us  to  see  how  quickly  these  girls  seem 
to  grasp  the  truths  of  Christianity,  and  what  a hold  it  takes 
upon  their  young  hearts.  The  religion  of  Jesus  is  a reality  to 
the  very  youngest  children  in  our  Orphanage,  and  permeates 
their  whole  lives. 

Fifty  of  our  older  girls  are  professed  followers  of  Christ, 
thirty  having  publicly  professed  their  faith  this  year  by  baptism. 


The  Mary  Avery  Merriman  Orphanage  was  the  outgrowth 
of  a day  school  in  Cawnpore.  The  recent  famines  which  have 
desolated  India  made  imperative  the  rescue  of  countless  orphans 
who  survived  their  parents.  Thus  the  Orphanage  became  a 
necessity,  and  the  work  it  accomplishes  is  second  to  none 
carried  on  by  the  Woman’s  Union  Missionary  Society. 


8 


This  organization  is  now  in  its  41st  year,  and  has  preserved 
its  original  characteristics,  a union  of  evangelical  Christianity, 
conducted  by  unsalaried  officers.  Cawnpore  is  its  third  station 
in  India,  in  point  of  age,  Calcutta,  Allahabad  being  older  and 
Jhansi  its  youngest.  Zenana  work  is  largely  carried  on,  and 
to  this  evangelistic,  educational  and  medical  work  has  been  the 
outgrowth. 

The  support  of  a child  in  the  Orphanage  is  twenty  dollars,  a 
sum  within  the  reach  of  almost  all  our  Mission  Bands.  Who 
will  choose  one  of  these  little  ones,  as  an  object  of  loving  service 
and  prayer  ? 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  WOMAN’S  UNION  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY, 

Mrs.  HENRY  JOHNSON,  President. 

Miss  S.  D.  DOREMUS,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

Miss  ELIZABETH  B.  STONE,  Assistant  Treasurer. 


